Monarchy can't survive King Charles, say republicans

12 August 2017

Campaign group Republic has today claimed that the monarchy will face a significant threat to its future on the succession of King Charles. The comments come after a poll in the Sun newspaper which showed just 22% of the public support him succeeding the Queen.

Graham Smith, speaking for Republic today, said:

"The monarchy doesn't respect the wishes of the people, that's not how it works. A hundred polls could come out with the same result and still Charles will be King."

"When the time comes the new monarch will face a huge crisis of legitimacy, if polls continue to show significant opposition to his position."

"The simple truth is, if voters want to choose their head of state then we need free and fair elections for the post. Anyone should be free to stand as a candidate and everyone should be free to vote in that election."

"The Queen's long reign has papered over the major fault line in the monarchy: it cannot respect the will of the people. When the Queen dies the people will not simply accept being told their next head of state is King Charles."

"This will be a crisis of legitimacy that will be matched by a vocal opposition and a major public debate - and the big question on everyone's lips will be: why can't we decide who gets the job?"